Deadline: 25-Sep-2025
The Creative Industries Fund NL has launched Grounding the Cloud Grant Program to support projects for reducing the ecological impact of digital technologies and data consumption.
This open call encourages making and thought processes that relate to topics such as regenerative culture, ‘de-growth’, low-tech, the use and reuse of hardware, including obsolete hardware, and renewed ownership over the technologies they use. The objective is to support projects that reduce the ecological impact of digital technologies and data consumption, provide insights, or offer sustainable alternatives.
The call is intended for makers, designers, collectives, and researchers who are established in the Netherlands, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius or Sint Maarten. Applicants must be registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce or one within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This open call is not open to institutions with a government grant under the cultural Basic Infrastructure (BIS) scheme.
Projects that contribute to reducing or providing insight into the ecological impact of digital technology are eligible for a grant. You may apply for new projects, or to reinterpret or further develop existing initiatives that show a clear scope for more depth or a changed approach. Projects may comprise the development of tools, working methods, or systems, artistic research, or events aimed at sharing knowledge.
A maximum of €30,000 is available per project, with a maximum project duration of one year. A total budget of €200,000 is available for the open call. The grant may be used for artistic and substantive development, research, collaboration, knowledge sharing, presentation, and documentation.
Grant applications are submitted for assessment to an external independent advisory committee. The advisors base their opinions on four criteria: the artistic quality of the proposal , the significance of the research question for the digital culture field , the positioning and reflection of the applicant on the open call’s theme , and the degree to which the project is effective in its setup, methods, and the expertise involved and collaboration.
To apply, you must submit a fully completed application form, a project plan of no more than five A4 pages, a timetable of no more than one A4 page, a balanced budget and funding plan of no more than two A4 pages, a portfolio of no more than 10 A4 pages, and CVs of the parties involved. A digitally certified extract from the Dutch Chamber of Commerce, issued no more than one year ago, is also required.
The deadline for submitting an application is September 25, 2025, at 16:00 CEST. The selection will be announced no more than eight weeks after the closing date. An acknowledgement of receipt will be sent no later than two weeks after the closing date.
For more information, visit Creative Industries Fund NL.
